Fox spent the entire offseason hyping up Deion Sanders’ debut for the Colorado Buffaloes, basically calling their opener at the No. 17 TCU Horned Frogs the biggest season opener college football has seen in years. The network…may have been right?!
Colorado upset TCU 45-42 on Saturday in what is already the game of the year in college football. The second half featured six lead changes in a contest that lived up to the hype. Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders hit Dylan Edwards for a 46-yard go-ahead touchdown with 4:25 left in the contest and the Buffs defense were able to get a critical stop on fourth down of the following drive to seal it.
DYLAN EDWARDS TURNS ON THE JETS FOR HIS 4TH TOUCHDOWN OF THE GAME!pic.twitter.com/fRPGqGROMH
— DraftKings (@DraftKings) September 2, 2023
This Week 1 opener between these soon-to-be Big 12 rivals got off to a modest start in the first half with Colorado taking a 17-14 lead into the first half. The entire nation immediately took notice of Travis Hunter’s abilities as a two-way player in the first half as he made ridiculous catches on offense and would turn right around to go into coverage on defense.
Then this game went off the rails.
The Buffs opened the second half with Sanders bombing a 75-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Edwards before Morris for TCU fired back with a touchdown pass to Jared Riley. On their next drive, the Horned Frogs seemed poised to take the lead before Hunter made a superman leap to pick it off at the goal line.
Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter with a RIDICULOUS goal-line interception vs TCU! pic.twitter.com/SV0BatBFvM
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) September 2, 2023
Fortunately for TCU, it was able to force a CU punt and would finally take the lead on a 23-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Wright.
From there, the two teams traded haymakers and the lead well into the fourth quarter, with a touchdown being scored on five consecutive drives. Deep into the fourth quarter, Sanders hit Edwards for the aforementioned go-ahead touchdown. TCU threatened to re-take the lead and even got the ball into Buffs territory. However, CU was able to get a key stop on 4th and nine to deliver Coach Prime his first victory in Colorado.
Shedeur Sanders set a program record for passing yards in the win, going 38-47 for 510 yards and four touchdowns. Meanwhile, Hunter put his name into the Heisman Trophy race with 11 receptions and 119 yards on offense and three tackles with an interception on defense. Colorado will host former Big 12 rival Nebraska next week in Coach Sanders’ home debut.